We heard Ben snorting at the end of the corridor, and I had to suppress a chuckle, despite the seriousness of the conversation.
Throwing daggers at Mia, Andrea demanded, “Now, where’s the girl? I want to see her.”
“The girl? As inmydaughter?” Danny shook his head. “You’re not seeing her today.”
She stared at him, appalled. “I have a right to visit her.”
“I know. It was last Sunday when you didn’t show up.”
“I was busy! I have a life as well and couldn’t make it.”
“You haveoneday a month, and you can’t make it happen for Sofia?” Danny ran his hands through his face. “My God, you’re a piece of work.”
“Fine! I’ll be there for the next one. We’ll take her to—”
“You won’t take her anywhere. You can only visit her at my place, with someone assisting. Donottest me, Andrea.”
Without any insistence to see her daughter, she huffed and turned to Mia, speaking in a phony, caring voice. “I’m sorry I can’t invite you to my wedding. It’s for friends and family only.”
Mia smiled in understanding. “It’s okay. I’ll go to your next one.”
Appropriately scorned, Andrea turned on her high heels and left the company, leaving us with a heavy silence.
Ben walked to us and slapped Danny’s shoulders, not one of us knowing what to say. He turned to his two best friends, at a loss for words.
“I’ll look into it,” Mia volunteered before he could ask. “We’ll figure out who the guy is. Nothing will touch Sofia.”
“What if it’s Matias again?” His broken voice was shattering my heart.
“Nothingwill touch her,” she stressed.
He nodded and looked at me. I didn’t know how to react, what to do to help, or even if my being there was helpful at all. Maybe it did more harm than good. When he stretched his hand for me to take, I felt like I could breathe a little easier.
I stood from my seat, took his hand, and let him pull me into his arms. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.” He kissed my temple, and I braced my arms around his waist. He took in a deep breath. “I don’t want Sofia to see me like this.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ben comforted him. “I closed the doors so they wouldn’t hear anything. I only let Hugo out because the little shit was going crazy, but he was the only one who noticed anything. I’ve been checking the kids on the baby monitor the whole time. All is well.” Danny nodded in relief and gratitude. “Go decompress,” Ben suggested. “Take your time to calm down.”
“I’ll stay with Lissie in my office for a little bit. Then we’ll take Sofia to...spend time together. I just...need my baby to be fine.”
“You don’t have any other appointments today,” Haley informed. “If someone needs to talk to you, they can wait until tomorrow. Go be with your family.”
“Thank you,cariño. Being with my family is exactly what I need,” he admitted, squeezing my waist.
He pulled me gently, and we headed to his office. He rounded his desk and plopped down onto his chair, pulling me to his lap. I molded into him, braced one arm around his neck, and played with his hair until he was ready to talk.
He sighed and held me tighter. “I’m so sorry for all that.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I put you right in the middle of my drama.” I hated the regret in his voice.
“No, you didn’t. We decided to start something together, and we’re both old enough to know sometimes we have to deal with our past. I’m happy to be here for you if you need me.”
He leaned his head into my chest. “I always need you. And that’s unfair for you.”
I cupped his face with my hand and turned him to look at me. “Let me be the judge of that. For me, it’d be unfair if we didn’t give a chance to something beautiful because whatever from our past is still bothering us.”
“You’re too young to be so wise,” he joked.